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India

Bikaner

Bikaner was an incredibly pleasant
surprise. We stayed in the Old City in Jodhpur and had all the accompanying
noise, smell, and traffic. We found a hotel in Bikaner that was away
from the town and closer to the Palace; clean, open views, grass lawn,
new! Dave was tickled to see they had ‘swamp coolers’ instead of
electric A/C? We were so impressed with the Junagarh Fort in Bikaner,
which is saying a lot given how much we had already enjoyed the fort in
Jodhpur!! It was built in 1587 by the 3rd ruler of Bikaner, Rai Singh.

Unlike most Rajasthani forts, it is not
perched on a hill or cliff for defense – the expansive Thar desert was
enough to dissuade any invading army. It is surrounded by 3,235 feet
of sandstone walls with 37 bastions. It has never been conquered,
so clearly the Thar is doing a great job!

The various Mahals in the palace were
stunning; the mirror work and gold detail simply dazzled the eye.
Another fabulous audio tour accompanied our rounds of the fort.

This fort had more modern stuff, too,
which entertained Breck; the last Maharaja was an active member of the
Army and his plane, medals, and weapons are all on display.

We spent a hot afternoon walking the
streets of the old town in Bikaner. We wanted to find some old Jain temples
that were marked as ‘tourist’ spots.

It took us much longer to find them
than we expected, but we enjoyed the results at the end of our meandering.
Breck and Alea both jumped sky-high when the temple guard played this bizarre
contraption with cymbals and an old megaphone.

Color in Rajasthan is far more than
a pleasant visual respite from the desert dunes. Turban color can
signify caste, religion and occasion. According to our guidebook,
Brahmins wear pink, Dalits wear brown and nomads wear black. Multi-colored
ones are reserved for festivals.

White and dark blue mean sadness and
are worn by Hindus when there has been a death in the family. The way a
turban is tied also signifies where a person is from and to which social
class he belongs. Color is also used by Rajasthani women to denote
caste, married state and origin.